


Skyfire's Flock

by Longitudinalwave



Category: Transformers Generation One
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-09 17:53:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27570322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Longitudinalwave/pseuds/Longitudinalwave
Summary: Skyfire's decision to mentor the Aerialbots puts him directly in the crosshairs of his ex-best friend.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	1. Make New Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thanks for checking out my story.  
> Skyfire's Flock is a sequel to Non Solum Fugere (a previous fanfic of mine) and features Skyfire as the main character. It will also feature the Aerialbots and Starscream prominently.

Skyfire was used to being alone. Shy and a bit reserved by nature, he had had few friends on Cybertron, preferring to spend most of his time in his laboratory or on scientific expeditions. And that had been _before_ he had crash landed on an uncharted planet and been buried in ice. When he had finally been rescued, he learned that he had missed the last nine million years. While he had been in stasis, Cybertron had plunged into a brutal and seemingly never-ending war, and his best friend, Starscream, had become a ruthless, power-hungry member of the brutal Decepticon army.

Upon realizing what Starscream and his allies stood for, he had promptly joined the Autobots, whose values were much more closely aligned to his own...only to realize that they didn’t really know what to do with him. He was one of only a handful of flight-capable Autobots, and, as if that didn’t make him stand out enough, the fact that he had once been friends with Starscream made some of his more distrustful allies denounce him as a potential traitor. His fellow scientists, Perceptor and Wheeljack, were amiable enough, but so far their relationship had been limited to a strictly professional one, and while he enjoyed the company of the young Dinobot Swoop and his fellow spaceship Cosmos, he couldn’t really say that they were friends. Swoop had his creators, Wheeljack and Ratchet, and his fellow Dinobots, and Cosmos was off on various patrols so often that it was a rare moment indeed when he and Skyfire got to talk.

Eventually, his sense of isolation had grown so strong that he requested leave from the Ark to go on a scientific expedition. His request was granted, but, unfortunately for Skyfire, going on an expedition by himself only reminded him of his former partnership with Starscream, something which made him feel even lonelier. But that had all changed when he returned from his expedition and learned, much to his surprise, that five new flight-capable Autobots had been created. Had they been from Vos, they would have been called Seekers, but, as things currently stood, they were called the Aerialbots. He and the youngsters had hit it off almost immediately, and they had only grown closer after he had defended them from false charges of treason leveled by a vindictive Sunstreaker. Suddenly, Skyfire was no longer alone. 

_Knock knock knock!_

“Come in,” Skyfire said. The door opened, and Skyfire was surprised to see the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, standing on the other side. 

“Hello, Skyfire,” he said. Skyfire jumped out of his chair and saluted. 

“Greetings, Optimus Prime, sir. What do you need?” Optimus’ optics twinkled, and Skyfire got the distinct feeling he was smiling under his mask. 

“I’ve noticed that the Aerialbots have taken quite a liking to you, Skyfire,” he said. 

“They have, sir,” Skyfire replied, unsure of where this was going. 

“Due to their obvious affection for you, I have decided to ask you if you would like to become a mentor to them. They have obvious talent in the air, but they’re still mostly untaught. I believe you are the best candidate to teach them how to properly handle being aerial frames. My skilled teachers, like Ironhide and Trailbreaker, can’t fly, and of the other Autobots who can fly, I don’t believe any of them are suitable for the role of teacher. Powerglide is a show-off and seems to resent the Aerialbots for taking away his status as the sole Autobot plane in this unit, Cosmos lacks the strong will necessary to keep Air Raid and Slingshot on task, Tracks is far too unwieldy in the air, and Swoop is barely older than the Aerialbots himself. What do you think, Skyfire?” Skyfire smiled. 

“I’d love to, sir,” he said. While he wasn’t as agile as a Seeker, he had a lot of experience in flying and plenty of advice to share with the younger fliers, and, what was more, taking on the role would give him an excuse to spend more time with the Aerialbots. 

“I’m glad to hear that, Skyfire. I know that you don’t have a lot of combat experience, but you are obviously a talented flier, and you have the maturity necessary to serve as a mentor,” Optimus Prime replied. Skyfire ducked his head in embarrassment. 

“I don’t know if I’m all that good, sir, but I’m glad you trust me with the responsibility,” he replied. 

“Skyfire, you’ve repeatedly shown yourself to be compassionate, brave, and loyal. There isn’t any reason for me to not trust you,” Optimus Prime replied. 

“Even though I was…” Skyfire began. 

“Starscream took advantage of your friendship to lie to you and convince you to join the wrong side. Seeing as you switched sides as soon as you uncovered the deception, you shouldn’t be held responsible for the actions you took while under the impression that you were doing what was right-no matter what some of our more distrustful teammates might say,” Optimus Prime said.

“Thank you for reassuring me, sir,” Skyfire replied. 

“You’re welcome, Skyfire. For now, you are dismissed. Your official work with the Aerialbots will start in two Earth days,” Optimus Prime said. With that, he left Skyfire’s room, and the jet’s grin widened. With any luck, he would finally start making true friends in the Autobot army. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading!


	2. Don't Keep the Old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, Skyfire's old friend has also taken an interest in the Aerialbots....

Starscream was used to being alone. True, mechs like that insufferable Prime would probably claim that his lack of friends was the result of his...ah, slightly abrasive personality, but he knew better. It was because he had never met someone worthy enough to be his equal. Or possibly because the Universe took a perverse pleasure in crushing his dreams. Either way, his loneliness was definitely not his fault! It wasn’t! One day, he would be the ruler of the universe, and everyone who had ever betrayed or ignored or mocked him would realize how special he was...right before he extinguished their sparks! 

“Hey, Screamer!” Taken by surprise, Starscream whirled around and prepared to annihilate whoever had dared to violate the privacy of his quarters...only to realize that it was just one of his idiotic subordinates. 

“Skywarp! How many times have I told you not to teleport into my quarters?” Skywarp shrugged, an infuriating grin plastered on his faceplates. 

“I dunno, Screamer. Probably a lot?” Annoyingly, he didn’t sound even slightly remorseful. 

“Don’t call me “Screamer”! It’s disrespectful!” 

“Whatever you say, Screamer.”

“I said stop calling me that! Is there a purpose to this visit, or I am just a convenient outlet for your childish inability to entertain yourself?” 

“Yeah, there’s a purpose. Do you think I like you enough to want to spend time with you when I don’t have to?” Skywarp replied. 

“Trust me, the feeling is mutual. Now explain why you’re here before I shoot you,” Starscream snapped. 

“I’m here because Lord Megatron wants to see you, and he wants to see you ten minutes ago,” Skywarp replied. Starscream scowled. He was in no mood to deal with that rusted old fool.

“In that case, you can tell Mighty Megatron to shove his demands to see me up his afterburner! I’m busy!” 

“Doing what? Moping? Preening? Plotting hopeless takeover attempt #4,535?” 

“Doing _important work_ that your outdated processor couldn’t begin to understand! Now get lost!” 

“Unfortunately for you, Screamer, Lord Megatron’s authorized me to use any means necessary to get you to him. Hold tight!” There was a flash of purple light, the world lurched, and Starscream found himself standing, a bit disoriented, in the throne room. As usual, Megatron was seated in the throne that rightfully belonged to Starscream, and Soundwave was standing to his right. The Communications Officer was as still as a statue. A normal mech probably would have purged their tanks, but vorns of working with Skywarp had led to Starscream developing an immunity to the side effects of teleportation. 

“I got him, Lord Megatron!” Skywarp exclaimed. Starscream glared at him. Traitor. 

“Good work, Skywarp. You are dismissed,” Megatron said. Skywarp saluted and vanished in another flash of purple light. Then Megatron turned his gaze towards Starscream.

“How good of you to finally join us, Starscream. Care to explain why you didn’t answer my original summons?” he asked coldly. 

“Because I was in the middle of a very important project. I would explain it to you, but it would undoubtedly be too complex for a brutish, uneducated gladiator like you to understand.” 

“Maybe it is. But that does not change the fact that, as Decepticon leader, _my_ orders take precedence over any foolish project of yours!” Megatron pointed his fusion cannon at Starscream, who reflexively flinched. Time to find out what this insufferable buffoon wanted this time….

“You wanted to see me, Might Megatron?” 

“I did. And now that you’ve finally arrived, I’ll tell you why you’re here. Prime’s Aerialbots are still threatening our superiority in the skies. How do we get rid of them?” Starscream smirked. As much as he hated to agree with Megatron, the Aerialbots were a direct challenge to his Seekers’ mastery of the skies-and, more importantly, his own position as the rightful ruler of the air. Getting rid of them was thus as important to him as it was to Megatron.

“Well, we’ve tried luring them into traps before, and it doesn’t work. There are just too many variables. Traps have their place, but the Aerialbots are too rarely on their own for attempting another one to be feasible,” Starscream said. 

“Agreed. So how do we take them out?” Megatron asked.

“My Seekers and I are considerably more experienced in aerial combat than any of the Aerialbots, but, at the same time, they’re not conventional opponents, because they’re fliers who’ve been taught to fight largely on or from the ground. Any skill in the air that they do have is largely instinctual, and that’s problematic. They don’t follow any of the traditional patterns of aerial warfare, and, as such, most of our experience against other airborne opponents is useless against them. If we want to take them out of the picture for good, we need to observe their fighting style closely, so that we can figure it out and learn how to take advantage of it,” Starscream replied. 

“Soundwave, send Ravage to the Ark to spy on the Aerialbots’ training,” Megatron ordered.

“Ravage, eject. Operation: espionage,” Soundwave said. Ravage ejected from his chest, transformed, and stalked off towards the entrance to the docking tower. Once he was gone, Starscream turned back to Megatron. 

“Anything else, Mighty Megatron?” In response, Megatron punched him so hard that it knocked him to the ground. Starscream squawked in pain. 

“If you ever fail to respond when I summon you again, I will have you melted down for scrap metal! Get out of my sight!” Megatron snarled. Starscream scowled, picked himself up, and stormed back to his quarters, muttering about Megatron’s stupidity the entire way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading! I will try to update again soon!


	3. The Prodigy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Skydive discovers that he's a little better at flying than he realized.

For a gestalt member, Skydive spent a lot of time alone. It wasn’t that he didn’t like his brothers-quite the opposite-it was just that he also liked having peace and quiet. Unlike Slingshot and Air Raid, who were loud and boisterous, or Fireflight, who was gregarious and seemed to be able to make friends with basically everyone (except Sunstreaker, but no one but Sideswipe had managed _that_ feat), Skydive was even more of an introvert than his older brother Silverbolt.

While his younger brothers seemed to spend as much time with one another as was physically possible, and his older brother was obligated to follow them around to keep them out of trouble, Skydive spent most of his time reading in his quarters. He was quite willing to read anything he could get his hands on, but his favorite topic was aerial combat. Human or Cybertronian, Skydive didn’t care...he would devour anything that he thought could teach him more about flying. Occasionally, he had thought about attempting to mimic some of the amazing aerial feats that he’d read about or seen documentaries of, but until today, he’d never had the courage to actually do it. After psyching himself up for a few seconds, he jumped off of a cliff that neighbored the Ark, transformed, and headed into his first aerial maneuver. Much to his surprise, he pulled it off easily, so he tried a more difficult one. And a more difficult one. And a more difficult one still. Before he knew it, he stopped thinking about what he was doing and was lost in the joys of flight. 

“Skydive!” Suddenly, Skyfire’s voice shook him out of his reverie. Skydive, pleased to see the shuttle, transformed and landed effortlessly. 

“Oh, hello, Skyfire.” 

“Skydive….that was incredible!” Skyfire exclaimed, looking downright awestruck. 

“What was incredible?” Skydive asked. 

“The maneuvers you were just performing. Who taught you to fly like that?” Skyfire replied. Skydive frowned, a bit puzzled. Surely, his flying couldn’t be _that_ impressive to someone as old and experienced as Skyfire. 

“No one. I saw the maneuvers in an old Cybertronian documentary and I just kind of...copied them.” 

“Copied them? Skydive, I’ve seen graduates from Vos’ Flight Academy who couldn’t pull off some of the maneuvers you were doing...and that was after vorns of practice and study! If you were able to pull them off just from _watching recordings_ of other flight frames doing them….we need to tell High Command about this now,” Skyfire said. With that, the shuttle led the stunned Skydive back into the Ark, and, a few minutes later, the bewildered young Aerialbot was standing in front of the entirety of Autobot High Command: Optimus Prime, Prowl, Jazz, Red Alert, Ratchet, and Ironhide. He was very glad that Skyfire was standing next to him; otherwise, he probably would’ve fainted from nervousness. 

“What’s up, Skyfire?” Jazz asked. He was leaning back in his chair and had his feet propped up on the table, something that seemed to be prompting nasty glares from Prowl and Red Alert. 

“To be honest, sir, I...I don’t really know how to explain this, but while I was taking a walk outside of the base to clear my processors, I stumbled upon Skydive here. He was flying, and well...take a look at what my memory banks recorded,” Skyfire replied quietly. He tapped a button on his arm, which projected a video of Skydive flying. By the time the video concluded, basically all of High Command looked as shocked as Skyfire had earlier. 

“Well, I’ll be,” Ironhide muttered. 

“Now do you see why I alerted you?” Skyfire asked. Prowl nodded. 

“Indeed. I’ve spent enough time imparting my limited knowledge of aerial tactics to the Aerialbots to know that Skydive is easily the most skilled of the bunch, but I had no idea that he was _this_ talented,” he said. 

“Heck, I don’t think _Powerglide_ could pull off some of those sweet moves,” Jazz added. Skydive felt his circuits heat up in embarrassment. Powerglide was an ace, and he’d been flying for vorns on vorns before Skydive had ever been thought of. How could he possibly be more skilled than the Autobots’ most experienced aerial operative? 

“Out of all of us, you probably know the most about aerial frames, Skyfire. Could you provide your expert opinion on the subject?” Optimus Prime asked. 

“Gladly, sir. Since Skydive was able to pick up and master those maneuvers without explicit instruction, that makes him one of the most skilled fliers I’ve ever heard about. In fact, there’s only one other mech I’ve ever met who was able to pick up aerial maneuvers just from watching them, and that was...well...that was my old partner, Starscream. I don’t need to tell you how skilled he is in the air,” Skyfire said. 

“Are you sayin’ that this kid’s as talented as the Decepticreeps’ _Air Commander_?” Ironhide exclaimed. 

“At the very least, there’s a good possibility. To be honest, I’m not sure there’s much I’ll really be able to teach him. If he can learn maneuvers that complicated just from watching others do them, I can’t imagine that he’ll really need my advice,” Skyfire replied.

“Um, d-do you still need me here, sirs?” Skydive asked quietly. 

“No, Skydive. You are dismissed,” Optimus Prime replied. Skydive saluted and then bolted back towards the Aerialbots’ quarters. He had never been particularly fond of being the center of attention; being talked about by a much older and more experienced flier as though he was some sort of aerial genius had been horrifically embarrassing. He wasn’t that good; he couldn’t be! He was just a nerd who liked to read about history and aerial combat! Once he reached his personal quarters, he decided to forget that the whole thing had ever happened and spent the rest of the day burying himself in his favorite datapads. 

The next day, all five of the Aeriabots were summoned to one of the Ark’s training fields by Skyfire, and, although Slingshot was grouchy about having to get up at 6 AM and Fireflight got distracted ten different times on the trip from their quarters to the field, they actually managed to arrive on time. 

“Skyfire! Hi!” Fireflight exclaimed. The shuttle smiled. 

“Hello, Fireflight.” 

“This had better be good,” Slingshot muttered. 

“Optimus Prime told me that you’ll be in charge of training us in aerial combat from now on. Is that correct, sir?” Silverbolt asked Skyfire. 

“More or less, yes. While all of you have learned quite a lot about flying for mechs who have primarily been instructed by grounders, Optimus believes that you will learn much more quickly if you’re being instructed by another mech that can fly. Since I’m quite fond of all of you, I was more than happy to accept the job of being your flight instructor. However, before we begin, I want to see what you can do already,” Skyfire replied. 

“That so, old mech? Then sit back and be impressed,” Slingshot said. He promptly took off and launched into his most unique aerial routine; one that his VTOL engines made him uniquely suited to perform. After a few minutes of impressive, if slightly reckless, maneuvering, Slingshot landed and smiled smugly. 

“Awesome, right?” 

“That was very impressive, Slingshot, especially given how limited your training has been up to this point. You’re a little reckless, and some of your turns were a bit rough, but you’re clearly talented. Who’s next?” 

“Oh, me! Me me me!” Air Raid exclaimed. Unlike Slingshot, who prided himself on his ability to hover and turn on a dime, Air Raid was concerned with one thing: sheer, unbridled speed. As soon as he was off the ground, he accelerated to his top speed, then started diving and spinning, veering dangerously close to the ground and some nearby trees as he did so, laughing all the while. Eventually, though, his recklessness cost him. He got a little too close to the ground, forcing a landing that was more of a wipeout than anything else. However, being Air Raid, he quickly shook off the impact and transformed back to robot mode, a huge smile plastered on his faceplates. 

“That was AWESOME!” 

“It did look fun. Word of advice, though: don’t fly so recklessly. I know it’s enjoyable, but it’s also really dangerous, especially if you’re in the middle of a firefight. I know that you’ve probably seen the Seekers performing stunts like that, but they’ve got several hundred vorns of practice in the air on you. I do appreciate your enthusiasm, though, Air Raid. It’s better to enjoy flying too much than too little,” Skyfire said. At that comment, Skydive glanced over at Silverbolt, who looked as though he’d been struck. He knew that his leader had to be worried about showing off his flying skills to an older and more experienced flier, and what Skyfire had just said would, unbeknownst to him, only make Silverbolt’s anxiety worse. 

“Aww, what’s life without a little risk, Skyfire?” Air Raid asked. 

“Longer, hot shot. Now, who wants to go next?” Skyfire replied. 

“I can go next,” Fireflight volunteered. Skydive winced. Fireflight was kind, friendly, and funny, but he was a really, _really_ bad flier. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy flying….it was just that he never paid attention to anything. Sure enough, as soon as Fireflight took to the air, he was jolting and jerking, making sloppy turns and almost flying into treetops by complete accident. He was clearly enjoying himself, but it was just as clear as always that he had no idea what he was doing in the air. After a few minutes, Skyfire asked Fireflight to land (and then had to ask him to land a second time, since he had been spaced out the first time and hadn’t heard the request). 

“How did I do?” Fireflight asked eagerly. Skyfire looked pained. 

“Well, you seemed to be having fun up there, Fireflight. Now we just need to teach you how to actually handle yourself in the air,” he said after a few seconds of silence. 

“Oh. Okay,” Fireflight said. He sounded a little disappointed, but thankfully, he didn’t seem to be too upset. 

“I’ll go next,” Silverbolt said, in the overly gruff leader voice he used whenever he was particularly anxious about something but also trying to hide it. He promptly transformed and took off, and, while everything he did was technically correct, it was also stiff, awkward and joyless. For Silverbolt, flying was an obligation, and it showed. Unsurprisingly, he was also the quickest to land, touching back down only about a minute and a half after he took off. 

“How did I do, sir?” Silverbolt asked. Skyfire frowned. 

“Technically, Silverbolt, you did everything correct. You’re not reckless like Air Raid or Slingshot, and you’re not nearly as disorganized as Fireflight….but your movements are all very stiff and awkward. It seems like you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, and that worries me,” he said. 

“That’s ‘cause he doesn’t enjoy it,” Slingshot replied. Silverbolt just sighed. 

“Slingshot’s right, Skyfire. I don’t enjoy flying, because I’m afraid of heights,” he said quietly, surprising Skydive. It was rare for Silverbolt to reveal his phobia to anyone who didn’t know about it. Skyfire looked alarmed about the news, but didn’t say anything. In the hopes of making the situation less awkward, Skydive raised his hand. 

“Yes, Skydive?” Skyfire asked. 

“May I show what I can do now?” 

“Of course, Skydive.” Skydive took off and launched into a series of maneuvers that were similar to the ones he had done the previous day. After a few minutes of joyous flying, he landed and transformed. 

“What do I need to improve, sir?” he asked Skyfire. The shuttle just shook his head.

“Skydive, I’ve already talked to you about this. You’re one of the most talented fliers I’ve ever seen. There’s not really anything I can teach you.” 

“But...but how can that be? I’m not even a year old! There’s no way that I…” 

“Starscream’s among the youngest members of Megatron’s air force. Older mechs are usually more skilled simply because of experience, but raw talent is visible at any age, and you have a lot of it,” Skyfire replied. Then, much to Skydive’s surprise, Silverbolt completely lost his composure and bolted off the field, clearly upset, and Skydive felt a sense of dread settle in his tanks. Silverbolt had never been particularly confident in his own ability to lead the Aerialbots, and Skydive was pretty sure that learning that one of his subordinates was (somehow) one of the most talented fliers that their new flight instructor had ever seen would only damage his confidence even further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading!


	4. Two's a Crowd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blast Off's patience is tried in every conceivable way.

Once, Blast Off had naively believed that Vortex was the singular most annoying individual in the universe. Having just spent a week and a half serving as the Stunticons’ “space bus'' for an offworld mission that Megaton had assigned them to, he now knew better. As annoying as Vortex’s calculated attempts to frustrate him were, they were nothing compared to the genuine idiocy displayed by Megatron’s pet gestalt team. After having been repeatedly subject to Drag Strip’s exaggerated recitals of even his most petty past victories, Breakdown’s fits of paranoia, Dead End’s proclamations of doom and destruction, and Wildrider’s incredibly frustrating habit of  _ doodling all over his interior _ while he was in shuttle mode, his patience had been worn to a very, very thin shred, and that thin shred had been thoroughly annihilated by Motormaster’s decision to subject Blast Off to his brutal form of team “discipline”. Blast Off thought of himself as a mech of nearly infinite patience, but even he had his limits, and being beaten into the ground for not obligingly flying straight through an enormous asteroid field in order to get to their intended destination an hour and a half sooner was one of them. By the time they had achieved their objective and were ready to return to Earth, only Blast Off’s healthy fear of Megatron’s wrath had prevented him from dumping the entire team of morons out of his cargo hold to be lost in the endless void of space. Now that he had finally made it back to Earth and his mission was complete, he planned to hide in his quarters for the next two weeks and not talk to anyone. His patience with beings not named Blast Off was currently nonexistent. 

“Blast Off! Come here!” 

“No,” Blast Off replied. He disliked the foul-tempered Air Commander on the best of days; after a week-and-a-half-long nightmare, the idea of spending time with him was intolerable. 

“I am your commanding officer! You will obey me, or I will have you punished!” Starscream shrieked. 

“No,” Blast Off repeated. As he started to walk away, Starscream grabbed him by the wrist. 

“Don’t push me, Combaticon. Megatron already hates the lot of you. If you don’t do as I say, it wouldn’t be at all difficult for me to get him to have you killed,” he threatened. Blast Off scoffed. Bruticus was far too valuable to the Decepticon cause for Megatron to have the Combaticons killed on Starscream’s whim. 

“I. Said. No. Now let me alone, or I will make things very unpleasant for you,” Blast Off said, his voice as cold as the depths of space. He broke out of Starscream’s weakened grasp and managed to make it back to the Combaticons’ quarters without further interruption. Unfortunately, Brawl, Vortex, and Swindle were all playing a variant on Praxus Fold ‘Em in the common area from which their individual quarters branched off, and he was unable to avoid their notice. 

“Oy, Thrusters! You’re back! Are the Stunticons dead?” Vortex yelled. 

“No. But you will be if you don’t stop talking to me,” Blast Off replied. 

“I told you he wouldn’t actually kill them. You owe me 150 shanix,” Swindle said happily. Vortex grumbled, but handed the shanix over to Swindle regardless. Before Blast Off could slip off to his quarters, however, Swindle turned his attention back to him. 

“Blast Off, old buddy, did you find anything valuable on your trip?” 

“No. And if I had, I would not give it to you. Now let me go to my quarters before I shoot you,” Blast Off replied. 

“You want us to deal ya into the game?” Brawl bellowed. Blast Off winced. How was it possible that Brawl still had no concept of an indoor voice? 

“No! I am going to my quarters, and I am going to stay in my quarters for the next two weeks. If anyone bothers me during that period, I will kill them,” Blast Off replied. With that, he stormed into his quarters, locked the door behind him to hopefully keep out any unwanted visitors, put on one of his favorite classical Vosian suites, and curled up on his recharging slab, hoping that he would be able to forget that the rest of the world existed for awhile. For a few hours, this worked reasonably well, but then, much to his annoyance, the doors to his quarters slid open and someone stepped inside. 

“Vortex, I don’t know how you managed to pick the lock again, but I was not kidding when I said that I would shoot you,” Blast Off snapped. It was around this time that he got a good look at the intruder and realized that it wasn’t Vortex at all. 

“Sir, I didn’t realize it was you.” 

“I gathered as much,” Onslaught replied coolly.

“What is it, sir?” 

“Megatron has requested your presence at a meeting in his throne room regarding the best way to eliminate the Aerialbots.” Blast Off scowled under his mask. Was it really too much to ask to have a few days of alone time after having to baby-sit the Stunticons? However, he also knew that he was in no position to disobey Megatron’s orders, no matter how much he wanted to do so. 

“Understood, sir,” he said wearily.

“I would also like to apologize for the fact that Vortex will be attending this meeting alongside you. For whatever reason, Megatron trusts his strategic acumen over mine,” Onslaught said, sounding mildly put out. Blast Off just sighed, resigned to his miserable fate. 

“The universe hates me.” 

A few minutes later, Blast Off and Vortex reported to Megatron’s throne room, where they were greeted by Starscream, Soundwave, Ravage, and the Great Slagmaker himself. 

“It took you long enough to get here, Combaticons,” Starscream sneered.

“I have spent the last week and a half baby-sitting the Stunticons. Given that, and the fact that Lord Megatron did not summon me until a few minutes ago, I feel perfectly justified in not leaving the sanctuary of my room until now,” Blast Off replied. 

“And I really couldn’t care less about when you want me to show up, Screamer. You ain’t my motherboard, no matter how much you might sound like her,” Vortex added. Starscream opened his mouth as if to respond, but Megatron cut him off before he could. 

“Enough bickering! You’re here to analyze the data Ravage brought back from Autobot Headquarters, not nag at each other like hyper-driven chatteroids!” With that, Ravage transformed into his cassette mode and slotted into one of the computers. A few seconds later, a recording of a grey-and-black F-16 flying through the air and performing amazing aerial stunts appeared on the monitor. Blast Off immediately understood why he had been called in. While he was not nearly as agile as a Seeker, he was still one of the most skilled aerial operatives in the Decepticon army. It was only logical that he would be called upon to help deal with a flier as skilled as this one. 

“So, the Autobots have finally found a truly skilled aerial operative. I must admit, I’m rather impressed,” he said. 

“That’s not just any Autobot, you twit! That’s one of the Aerialbots, flying as though he’s been training at Vos’ elite Air Academy for vorns! How could a newly created jet trained solely by groundpounders be such a skilled flier?” Starscream screeched. 

“The importance of natural talent should never be underestimated, Air Commander….though I will admit to being surprised that one of the Aerialbots has that much natural talent. The displays of flight I’ve seen from them in previous battles have been decidedly mediocre,” Blast Off replied. 

“I ain’t surprised. That Aerialbot’s frame language matches Screamer’s almost perfectly-on the ground and in the air-and we all know how well Screamer flies. The Aerialbot probably just hadn’t thought to really push himself before now,” Vortex remarked suddenly. Blast Off looked at him in mild surprise. The stupid stunts he pulled made it easy to forget, but, when it came to reading others, Vortex was frighteningly intelligent. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. No one has ever come close to the level of skill I display in the air!” Starscream snarled. 

“Nobody except this kid. I’m telling ya, Screamer, he’s a perfect match. He might even be better than you once he gets more practice in,” Vortex replied. Starscream scowled. 

“Don’t listen to him, Megatron! He’s obviously lying to make me look bad! There’s no way that what the Aerialbot brat is doing comes anywhere close to my skill!” 

“Frame language don’t lie, Screamer. Well, it does if it’s mine, but I’m an exception to pretty much all the rules. For anybody else, frame language is a foolproof tell..and what his frame language is telling me is that he’s as good as you are,” Vortex said. 

“Don’t be ridiculous! You’re not an aerial operative! You’re psy-ops, and more than half cracked beside! You know nothing about what aerial talent really is!” Starscream screeched. If Blast Off hadn’t known better, he would’ve sworn that the Air Commander’s voice was actually increasing in pitch. What had he done to deserve getting stuck in the middle of an argument between Vortex and Starscream? 

“Better half-cracked than an ego the size of Unicron on legs,” Vortex replied casually. 

“HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THAT WAY TO YOUR AIR COMMANDER?” 

“ **_SHUT UP_ ** !” Megatron bellowed. Blast Off winced. His poor, wounded audio receptors. Much to his surprise, the tyrant then turned his attention to him.

“Since you seem to be the only aerial here with half a processor, would you mind giving your opinion on this argument so that we can put it to rest?” 

“Gladly, sir. Vortex is an obnoxious, sadistic glitch with no sense of decency or common sense, but his ability to read frame language is unparalleled. If he says the Aerialbot is as skilled as Air Commander Starscream, then he is,” Blast Off replied. Starscream scowled, and his scowl only deepened when the Autobot shuttle, Skyfire, appeared on the monitor. 

“What’s the matter, Screamer? Miss your little Autobot friend?” Vortex mocked. 

“He is not my friend! He is a putrid traitor, and I will destroy him!” Starscream shrieked. As Ravage’s recording continued, Starscream grew angrier and angrier, and when the video ended with Skyfire praising the black-and-grey Aerialbot by openly comparing him to Starscream, the Air Commander absolutely exploded. 

“HOW DARE THAT LITTLE PRETENDER THINK HE’S A BETTER FLIER THAN ME? I AM STARSCREAM, PRIDE OF CYBERTRON’S WAR ACADEMY AND PRINCE OF THE FIRMAMENT! I WILL DESTROY HIM FOR THIS INSULT!” Vortex promptly cracked up, and Blast Off sighed, wishing that he was back in his nice, quiet room. 

“While I don’t share Air Commander Starscream’s personal vitriol towards this Aerialbot, I would agree that taking him out would be the most efficient method of taking out the group as a whole. He’s easily the most skilled of the team, and the emotional impact of killing one member of the gestalt would likely take a heavy toll on the aerial ability of the rest of the team. Furthermore, it would remove Superion from the picture entirely,” Blast Off said. 

“Yeah. After that, we can pick off the others whenever we need something small, cute, and pathetic to kill,” Vortex added. 

“Yes! We will kill those pathetic pretenders to my throne!” Starscream exclaimed. 

“Good. Now that we have come up with a plan to annihilate those wretched Aerialbots, I will allow you to carry it out, Starscream,” Megatron said. 

“Make no mistake, Megatron. The Aerialbots will perish at my hands!” 

“They had better. Combaticons, you are dismissed,” Megatron replied. Blast Off saluted, and then he and Vortex left the throne room and returned to their quarters.

“If I’m never in another meeting with Starscream, it will be too soon.” 

“Speak for yourself. That was the most fun I’ve had all week!” Vortex exclaimed. In response, Blast Off went back to his room and shut and locked the door. Aaah, peace at last. Starscream could deal with the Aerialbot problem on his own from now on, because he wasn’t leaving his room for a month! 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading!


	5. Leading the Flock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Silverbolt is harder to mentor than you might expect.

As much as Skyfire hated to admit it, he had definitely put his foot in his mouth during his first training session with the Aerialbots. Praising Slingshot and Skydive’s skill in the air and Fireflight and Air Raid’s obvious love of flight right in front of Silverbolt had produced disastrous results. The young Autobot had already been uncomfortable in his position as leader, and Skyfire’s words, well-intentioned as they had been, had only made his insecurities worse. After realizing what he had done, Skyfire had left Silverbolt alone for a few days, and now he was standing in front of the door to his quarters, hoping that the Concorde would have the good grace to accept his apology. Nervously, he knocked on the door, and Silverbolt opened it. 

“May I come in?” Skyfire asked. Silverbolt looked a bit surprised, but he nodded. 

“Of course, Skyfire. What do you need?” Skyfire ducked through the doorframe and into the room. 

“I...I wanted to apologize for what happened at our last practice session. The things I said were thoughtless, and they clearly hurt your feelings,” he said awkwardly. 

“It’s not your fault, Skyfire. It’s mine. Everything you said was true. I don’t enjoy flying, and I’m not particularly good at it. Skydive and the others  _ are  _ better than me. It’s just how it is,” Silverbolt replied. The pain in his voice was readily apparent. 

“That doesn’t excuse the way I treated you, Silverbolt. For someone who has to overcome the hurdle of acrophobia every time you take to the air, you’re an excellent flier,” Skyfire said. 

“You didn’t know that I was afraid of heights. If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s my fault for not telling you sooner. Besides, my acrophobia does affect my performance. It would’ve been unfair of you to let me off more easily than by brothers just because I’ve got a programming defect,” Silvebolt replied sadly. 

“Defect? Silverbolt, you aren’t-” 

“I’m an aerial frame who’s afraid of heights, Skyfire. If that’s not a programming defect, I don’t know what is. I’ve got no business leading a team of aerials, and we both know it.” 

“Silverbolt, you’re an excellent leader, especially for someone as young as you are. You’re responsible and level-headed and you can clearly manage your team. I’ve met mechs much older than you who couldn’t lead half as well….and Optimus Prime always speaks highly of your command abilities,” Skyfire said. 

“But Optimus Prime isn’t an aerial. No matter how good of a leader I am on the ground, how can an acrophobe properly lead an aerial unit?” Skyfire struggled to come up with a good reply to Silverbolt’s question, but couldn’t. While he stood by his opinion that Silverbolt had all the qualities of a great leader, the fact was, the young Aerialbot was right. For a leader of an aerial squadron, being a talented flier was almost a prerequisite. While he had, of course, met other aerials who were reluctant fliers, they had almost invariably sought out other careers. Never had he met a unit of aerials led by someone who hated to fly to the extent that Silverbolt did. 

“I’m right, aren’t I, Skyfire?” 

“I...well, I’ve never met an aerial unit that was led by someone who didn’t enjoy flying, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done,” Skyfire replied awkwardly. He had come to apologize, but he had the sinking feeling that he had only succeeded in crushing Silverbolt’s self-confidence even further. Maybe he wouldn’t be as good of a mentor to the Aerialbots as he had hoped. 

“Skyfire, please. Stop beating around the bush and just tell me that I’m right. I can’t properly lead my team,” Silverbolt said, as Skyfire wished that he was anywhere but where he was. Silverbolt was one of the most responsible, kind, and genuine Autobots he had ever met, and, no matter what he said, Skyfire was going to crush him emotionally. 

“Well….I….Silverbolt, I’m really sorry, but you’re...you’re right. If I set my personal fondness for you aside, I have to admit that you’re just not a good fit as the leader of an aerial unit. You can lead better than most mechs twice your age when you’re on the ground, but in the air….you’re just too uncomfortable. It would be too difficult for you to provide effective guidance.” 

“Thank you for being honest, Skyfire. I’ll...I’ll ask High Command to remove me from my position. If I can’t carry out my responsibilities properly, I have no right to stay in command,” Silverbolt said. He was undoubtedly upset, but he was hiding it better than anyone had a right to expect from a mech as young as he was. 

“Silverbolt, you can’t!” Skyfire turned around to see Skydive standing in the doorframe, looking alarmed, and he winced. Now he’d upset Skydive, too. 

“I have to, Skydive. We’re aerials. If I can’t effectively lead you in the air, I shouldn’t be in command at all,” Silverbolt said. 

“But if you’re not in charge, who will be?” Skydive asked. 

“You, of course. You’re an incredibly skilled flier. I can’t think of a better leader for a team of aerials,” Silverbolt replied. 

“Silverbolt, you can’t put me in command! I’ll never be able to make Slingshot and Air Raid listen to me like you do, and talking to High Command makes me so nervous that I feel like I’m going to faint. I may be good at flying, but that doesn’t make me good at leading.” 

“You’ve already managed to master maneuvers that much more experienced aerials can’t perform. How hard could picking up a few leadership skills be for Skydive the  _ prodigy _ ?” Silverbolt said. Skyfire had never heard so much venom in the young mech’s voice before. It seemed that Skyfire’s discovery of Skydive’s hidden talents had done more than just destroy Silverbolt’s self-confidence-it had also driven a wedge between Silverbolt and Skydive. 

“Silverbolt, please! You’re the leader of the team, not me! You know how much I hate attention. How could I ever be a good commander?” Skydive asked, clearly hurt by his older brother’s uncharacteristic hostility. 

“Why would  _ you _ hate attention? We’re not even a year old, and you’re already so skilled Skyfire can’t teach you anything! You’re a genius, a  _ prodigy _ ! How hard could it possibly be to be able to impress all of high command without even trying?” Silverbolt exclaimed. With that, he stormed out of the room, clearly upset, and Skyfire was left to comfort an equally miserable Skydive. Why had he thought that he would be able to mentor such young, impressionable bots? It would’ve been better for everyone if he’d never agreed to Optimus Prime’s proposition. Clearly, he was meant to be alone...because whenever he tried to make friends, something went terribly wrong. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading.


	6. The Zombie Apocalypse of Starscream's Quarters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starscream's plot against the Aerialbot who dared to become friends with Skyfire is repeatedly interrupted by some annoying Stunticons.

As soon as Starscream had received his orders from Megatron and returned to his private quarters (which, thanks to Skywarp, weren’t nearly as private as they should have been), he shrieked in anger and punched the wall hard enough to leave a sizable dent. That Aerialbot brat had some nerve! It was bad enough that he’d threatened Starscream’s supremacy of the skies, but to steal Skyfire away from him, too? Oh, Starscream would make his death excruciatingly painful for _that_ insult-preferably, in front of Skyfire to punish the shuttle for replacing him with an upstart newbuilt who barely understood his own frame. What could that naive little F-16 possibly have that, he, the Pride of Cybertron’s War Academy, didn’t? Skyfire must’ve lost his mind. It was the only logical explanation for why he would choose an Autobot over Starscream...but whatever the reason, Starscream would make both Skyfire and the newbuilt brat regret their mistreatment of him. They would suffer _immeasurably_ for their betrayal! 

“C-c-commander Starscream, s-s-sir?” Starscream rolled his optics. In speaking of newbuilt brats….

“Why are _you_ here, Stunticon?” he spat. The excessively paranoid Stunticon (Starscream could never remember his name) shrieked and cowered away from him. Starscream smirked. It was always nice to have his formidable battle prowess acknowledged. 

“M-M-Motormaster heard that you’re g-g-going to k-k-kill one of the Aerialbots, so h-h-he sent me to tell you that they’re _his_ enemies and that you aren’t allowed to k-k-kill them w-w-without him,” the blue-and-white mech (what _was_ his name?) stammered. Starscream scowled. The last thing he needed was that stupid truck inserting himself into the scheme to kill the Aerialbot. The brutish semi would only foul things up! 

“How did Motormaster hear about that?” he demanded. The paranoid Stunticon whimpered, obviously terrified (a fitting response, Starscream thought, to one of his immense talent and power). 

“R-R-Rumble, sir.” 

“And how, pray tell, did Rumble find out?” Starscream asked. 

“H-h-he was s-s-spying on the C-C-Combaticons, and he overheard V-V-Vortex talking about it, sir,” what’s-his-name replied. Starscream sighed. Unfortunately, the chain of events that the pathetic wreck cowering before him had conveyed made perfect sense. Thanks to Vortex’s infuriating nature and apparent inability to keep his mouth shut, Rumble’s fondness for spying on his allies and spreading gossip around, and Motormaster’s ego, his plans for destroying that wretched Autobot were being hampered before they even got off the ground! It was infuriating! 

“In that case, you can tell Motormaster that, as his superior officer, I have every right to refuse his idiotic request! I am formulating a sophisticated scheme to annihilate that Aerialbot, one that a mech of his brutish, dimwitted nature would only hinder,” Starscream snapped. 

“M-M-Motormaster won’t l-l-like that, C-C-Commander.” 

“Do I _look_ like I care, Stunticon?” Starscream asked, intentionally looming over the Stunticon. What’s-his-name whimpered again, sounding remarkably like one of those infernal human squeaky toys. 

“N-n-no, sir.” 

“Then scram!” What’s-his-name promptly bolted down the hall and disappeared from Starscream’s view. The Air Commander smirked. If only _all_ of his subordinates were as respectful as that blue-and-white carformer. Once he was sure that he wasn’t going to be interrupted again, he started to work on his brilliant scheme to kill that Aerialbot brat and punish Skyfire replacing him. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been working on it for more than twenty minutes when a grey blur rushed into his room and took a flying leap onto his recharging center, cackling all the while. 

“WHAT THE-” 

“Howdy, Screamer! I totally destroyed that zombie. Do I get bonus points?” Starscream just stared, not sure how to react to what had just happened. The hyperactive Stunticon had just driven into his room, transformed, performed a flying leap onto his recharging center, shattered it to pieces, and then announced that it was a zombie (whatever a ‘zombie’ was). How was one supposed to react to something like that? 

“Zombie?” he finally echoed. 

“Yeah, an undead squishy. You get more points when you completely destroy them than you do when you just shoot them,” the grey-and-red Stunticon replied, as though what he was saying was the most natural thing in the world. 

“Why are you here?” Starscream asked, knowing enough about the Ferrari to not even bother trying to argue the finer points of reality with him. 

“Saving you from a zombie. Duh.” Starscream had to resist the urge to shoot the Stunticon in the face. 

“And why did you come to my quarters?” The Ferrari paused, as though pondering the question. 

“I forget. But hey, I saved you from the zombie, so it’s a good thing that I came, isn’t it?” he said cheerfully. Luckily for Starscream’s continued sanity and the Ferrari’s continued functioning, the fatalistic Stunticon chose this moment to enter Starscream’s quarters. 

“Motormaster sent us both to tell you that if you do not allow him to participate in the scheme to annihilate the Aerialbots, he will personally make you do something that is anatomically impossible. Breakdown was in too much of a panic to be sent again.” Starscream scowled. How was he supposed to plan anything when he was constantly being pestered by Stunticons? 

“Tell him that if he tries anything of the sort, he will be punished for assaulting a superior officer. I am not going to be bullied into changing my brilliant scheme by that imbecile,” Starscream replied, trying to ignore the fact that the Ferrari had somehow found his collection of model planes (all of which, of course, were miniature versions of his own alternate mode) and was using them like they were _toys_! The fatalistic Stunticon didn’t look impressed by Starscream's proclamation. 

“It’s your funeral. Come, Wildrider. We have a message to deliver to our esteemed leader,” he said. The Ferrari, who was apparently named Wildrider (who knew?), cheerfully bounced to his feet and followed the fatalist out of the Seeker’s quarters, taking two of Starscream’s highly-detailed model planes with him. 

“You’re welcome for the save, Screamer!” Had the thief been anyone but Wildrider, Starscream would have already been making plans to retrieve his model planes, but since Wildrider was certain to break them before Starscream would have a chance to do so, he settled for just plotting how best to punish the hyperactive Stunticon for the destruction of a superior officer’s property. Starscream looked at the pieces of his recharging center in frustration, ordered a replacement (Megatron had destroyed enough of his rechargers that he actually had a template that he sent to Soundwave whenever he needed a new one), and then returned to his plans. Nothing, not even a pack of half-mad sparklings, would prevent him from destroying that wretched Aerialbot who had stolen Skyfire from him!

Starscream was just getting to the best part of the plan (the part where he killed the Aerialbot in a horrifically painful manner), when his face was violently shoved into his personal computer console and his vision whited out from the pain. When it finally cleared, he turned around to see Motormaster glaring at him, an ugly smile on his faceplates. 

“Let me in on your plan, or I’ll shove your nose inta yer afterburner!” he snarled. Starscream calculated his odds. He was much faster, more experienced, and more intelligent than the young gestalt leader, but he was also on the ground, already woozy from the blow he’d received to the head, and outclassed in both strength and endurance. In a situation like this, discretion was probably the better part of valor, as much as Starscream hated to admit it. 

“Very well. I’ll let you in on the plan…on one condition,” he said. Motormaster barked a laugh, and in that moment, he was disturbingly reminiscent of his creator. 

“What makes you think you can set conditions, you snivelin’ coward?” 

“Because, my dear Motormaster, I am the Second-in-Command of the Decepticon Army. I was under the impression that you respected the chain of command,” Starscream replied. 

“A coward like you doesn’t deserve ta be Second.” 

“Funny. Megatron doesn’t seem to share that opinion. Do you really disagree with one of the decisions made by your beloved leader?” Starscream asked. Motormaster frowned, clearly unsure how to retort, and then gave in.

“Fine! What’re your stupid conditions?” 

“First, you will keep your idiotic gestalt mates out of my plating. This plan will be complicated enough without them distracting me. Second, you will not attempt to physically harm me. Third, you will follow my orders to the letter-except in the unlikely event that something happens to me. Are we agreed?” Motormaster scowled, but nodded. 

“Yeah, we’re agreed.” 

“I’m glad to hear it, Motormaster.” In response, Motormaster stomped out of Starscream’s quarters, and the jet sighed. While being forced to include Motormaster in his plans was less than ideal, he had at least managed to maintain control of his own plan for revenge. That counted as a win in his books. Skyfire and that wretched Aerialbot brat wouldn’t know what hit them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thanks for reading.


End file.
